


Not Your Average Walk in the Park

by oriolegirl



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-05
Updated: 2007-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-02 17:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriolegirl/pseuds/oriolegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lorne and Parrish take leave and visit Acadia National Park, which looks a little too much like Pegasus for Lorne's peace of mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Your Average Walk in the Park

Evan thought it was like any routine mission to a sparsely inhabited world. They were hiking on a trail through the woods. David was behind him, rambling enthusiastically about something botanical. Some sort of moss. From past experience, he knew that David didn't really expect him to participate in any meaningful conversation, just to occasionally acknowledge that he was back there. Evan let David's voice become part of the background and focused his attention on their surroundings.

They had been walking for awhile when Evan heard a branch snap. He reached back to grab David's vest and tug him down. When David started to protest, he turned back and hissed, "Quiet, Doc." Then he used both hands to bring his P-90 up into firing position.

~*~

Evan was poked and prodded by the doctors. Then he was briefed and debriefed by colonels and generals and a variety of people in suits. When they finally let him go, he grabbed the keys to the car he was assigned and went to track down his wayward botanist. Not surprisingly, he found David in the one and only botany lab in Cheyenne Mountain. Stopping just inside the door, he said, "Hey, Doc."

David looked up from the plant he was repotting. "Major."

"Ready to get out of here?" Evan asked, holding up the car keys.

"Yes. Of course." He looked down at his hands which were covered in dirt. "Just let me --"

"Wash your hands." Evan grinned. This was a scene they'd played out many times before.

The trip to the hotel was made in silence, each of them shooting looks at the other from the corners of his eyes. They checked in quickly and hurried to the elevator. Evan never saw his room. David's was closer and had what the hotel generously called a king size bed.

They ventured out for breakfast in the morning, but quickly discovered that the hustle and bustle of everyday life on Earth was more than they wanted to deal with. Retreating to David's room, Evan ordered from room service. David took advantage of the free wireless connection to make other arrangements.

They were on a flight to Maine the next morning.

~*~

David was confused. One minute they were hiking along the trail, the next Evan stopped, pulled him down, and hissed, "Quiet, Doc." Like they were on a mission in Pegasus and not in Acadia National Park in Maine. Oh god. Evan must be having a flashback. Or something. David hastily began flipping through his mind for anything he could remember about flashbacks or PTSD. Should he play along? Should he try to snap Evan out of it? Should he talk? Should he be quiet? Why did these things happen when there was no one around who knew what to do? And David realized he was sounding like McKay and took a deep breath. Action, not panic.

"Major?" Evan just shook his head sharply, a gesture David had come to learn meant 'shut the hell up.'

David was reaching for Evan's shoulder, to shake him or something, when help arrived.

A man crouched down next to them and said, "Sir, it's clear up ahead. There are no hostiles in the area."

Evan's head swung around and he frowned. "Who are you?"

"Lt. Ramirez, sir."

Evan's frown deepened and he looked back at David.

David touched his shoulder. "Evan."

He shook his head, clearly confused. "David?"

"It's ok, Evan. We're on leave."

Evan's eyes widened and he sat down abruptly. "Oh god. Oh god."

David stood up and moved close enough to Evan that his calf was touching Evan's side, offering reassurance and protection from prying eyes. He waited for their helper to stand also before saying, "Thank you, Lieutenant."

Ramirez shrugged. "I've seen it happen to a lot of guys. If I might suggest, sir, the Major might want to find someone to talk to."

David looked down at Evan who was slumped forward, head and arms hanging between his knees. "I think that's probably a good idea."

~*~

It was early afternoon when they pulled into the parking lot of the inn. They registered and stowed their bags in the room before heading back out. Acadia National Park was just up the road.

When they got to the visitor's center, David said something about a variety of moss he was interested in finding and headed off to find a park ranger. Evan went looking for trail maps.

Half an hour later, Evan was satisfied he'd gotten a good overall picture of the park. Folding up the map, he looked around. David had cornered a ranger, who had a look of desperation on his face that Evan was used to seeing on the faces of Marines who had spent too much time with the scientists. Deciding a rescue was in order, Evan headed over. He put a hand on David's shoulder and squeezed gently. Holding up his map, Evan asked the ranger, "Which trail do you think would offer the best chance for finding his moss?"

~*~

David was silent as they headed back to the inn. He didn't say a word as Evan disappeared into the bathroom where he alternated between sitting on the floor in shock and staring at himself in the mirror.

When he emerged 45 minutes later, David was standing in front of the window. Evan leaned against the back of the sofa, arms crossed. "Thank you," he said quietly, "for not making me talk about what happened."

David shook his head. "Do I ever make you talk?"

Evan let out a chuff of air, not quite a laugh. "Usually not. But sometimes."

"Yes, well." He shrugged. "There was no danger of imminent death and destruction."

"This time," Evan said ruefully.

David turned his head to look at him. "This time," he agreed. David looked back out the window, then turned around to face Evan. "The Lieutenant. Ramirez. He thinks you should talk to someone. I think he's right."

Evan didn't reply, just tightened his arms around himself.

"Surely the SGC has someone --"

"No! I'm not --." Evan took a deep breath. He'd heard the stories and there was no way in hell he was talking to that guy. "I refuse to see him."

David looked a little shocked, but still determined. "What about Heightmeyer?"

"David, she's not --." Evan shook his head. Heightmeyer wasn't military, plus she kind of freaked him out. "She doesn't get it."

David threw his hands up. "Well surely there's _someone_ you can talk to."

Evan looked away, then finally said, "John. I can talk to John."

Evan looked up to find David frowning, clearly confused. Evan clarified, "Sheppard."

David's hands fisted at his sides. "You two have been rather chummy lately."

Evan tilted his head and his lips twitched. "Chummy? Did you just say chummy?"

"Yes, yes I did. It's a perfectly fine word," David said defensively. "And all I'm saying is that you've been spending a lot of time with Colonel Sheppard. At all sorts of weird hours."

"I thought I was the possessive one in this relationship."

"Why can't we be --" David's hands flailed as he struggled for words. "Mutually possessive?"

Evan watched David's face as he finally realized just what he'd said. Then he smiled. "Yeah, ok. I can do that."

David frowned. "I. You. Really?"

Evan pushed off the back of the sofa and came to stand in front of David. "Yeah, really."

"Oh, well. Ok. Mutually possessive."

Evan grinned. "Mutually possessive." Then he slid a hand across David's cheek and into his hair, pulling him in for a kiss.

~*~

Evan was sitting on the balcony enjoying the quiet, a bottle of something not-quite alcoholic in his hand. The stuff the scientists were making down in the storage closet everyone pretended didn't exist was like paint thinner. So not-quite alcohol from P32-7X6 would have to do.

He heard footsteps and wasn't too surprised to see Colonel Sheppard standing in the doorway. Whenever he'd seen Sheppard that day, the Colonel had looked like he was going to say something but instead would shake his head and walk away. "Can I talk to you?" Sheppard finally asked.

Evan reached down for the extra bottle he'd brought; he'd been that sure Sheppard would find him. Holding it out, he gestured towards the other side of the doorway. "Pull up a wall, sir."

Sheppard carefully lowered himself to the ground. Looking at the bottle in his hand, he said, "Not --. Not as your CO. Just John, a guy who's been in the wars, too."

Evan knew what he meant. Sheppard needed a buddy to talk to, someone who'd been in combat and knew what the aftermath was like. The nightmares and the what ifs and the counts you kept in the back of your mind even though you pretended you didn't. "Nice to meet you, John. I'm Evan. What brings you to this fine establishment?"

John let out a bark of laughter. "McKay said he'd kick my ass if I didn't talk to someone."

"I can see how that would be an incentive."

"Yeah." John paused. "Before this goes any further. Anything I say out here about McKay, you have to forget once we're back in there."

"You got it," Evan said. He was pretty sure he knew what was going to come out and he was ok with that. How could he not be?

"The other night," John said, staring up at the city's skyline, "the nightmares were so bad I literally pushed Rodney out of bed."

"Sounds pretty bad," Evan said, keeping his voice level.

"Yeah." John looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "He wasn't too happy about it."

Looking over at John, Evan said, "I probably wouldn't be either, if David kicked me out of bed."

John's head whipped around and he met Evan's gaze. Then he shook his head and grinned a little. "I don't think anyone would take it well."

~*~

The remains of dinner were pushed to one side of the bed. One advantage to staying at a small inn was the landlady's willingness to serve meals on trays.

David was propped up on the pillows, Evan lying against his side. "I read about this study," David said quietly. "They found that combat veterans were more likely to talk about their experiences with others who had seen combat."

Evan had stiffened in David's arms when he began to speak, but then Evan relaxed and turned his face in David's chest. "Yeah."

"Is that what you and Colonel Sheppard have been doing?" He didn't really think anything else was going on between Evan and Sheppard, but he was still sometimes surprised that Evan was with him.

"It's mostly been him talking and me listening, but yeah."

David wanted to demand that Evan say more, but he knew that wouldn't do any good. If Evan didn't want to talk, nothing short of prolonged torture would make him.

Evan shifted onto his side. "The databurst to Atlantis is tomorrow afternoon. If we find an Internet café or something in the morning, I could send John an e-mail."

"Ok. We'll do that." David stifled the urge to say, _Let's go right now_. There wasn't any reason to rush; they were heading back on the Daedalus before the next databurst from Atlantis, so the Colonel wouldn't be able to reply.

Evan reached a hand up, turning David's face to meet his. "Hey. I love you, you know."

He did know that. The whole day had just thrown him off kilter. It was a given that he'd worry about Evan when they were in Pegasus, but he hadn't expected to worry while they were on Earth. "I know. Me, too."

Evan grinned and David knew that somehow it would all work out.

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/profile)[**silver_cyanne**](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/) looked it over the first time, told me I wasn't done and made me finish it; she also helped with the title for which you should all be grateful.


End file.
